Paper Mitchell: Sticker Jewel
Paper Mitchell: Sticker Jewel, known in Japan as , is a 2012 role-playing video game developed by Square Enix, published by Nordic Games and distributed by Nickelodeon Interactive Games for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita and Xbox 360 consoles. It is the fifth installment of the Paper Mitchell series, it is also the sequel to Paper Mitchell Quest and is the second game in the series playable on a handheld console. The game was released in North America on November 11, 2012 and in December 2012 in Japan, Europe and Australia. Like previous Paper Mitchell games, Paper Mitchell: Sticker Jewel''s visual style is mostly based on Nintendo's ''Paper Mario: Sticker Star videogame (which uses a papercraft visual style that is heavily incorporated into its gameplay mechanics. Sticker Jewel introduces the use of stickers, which are littered throughout the game world and are used as items or power-ups, aiding the player in turn-based battles against enemies or in solving puzzles.) The plot follows Mitchell's quest to gather the six Treasure Stickers that were scattered by Marquessa. Gameplay Paper Mitchell: Sticker Star features a visual style similar to its predecessors, in which the characters appear as paper cutouts in a three-dimensional papercraft Raleighopolis, with landscapes ranging from snowy areas and forests to volcanoes. The story focuses on Mitchell's efforts to retrieve the six Treasure Stickers that have been scattered by Marquessa at the annual Sticker Fest. Mitchell and his friends is accompanied by Klerra, a sticker fairy, who bestows upon Mitchell the power of stickers. The player controls Mitchell and his pals as they explore the various locales of the Super Mitchell Land. A major facet of Sticker Jewel s gameplay is the extensive use of collectible stickers, which are used to gain new abilities and progress through the game. The player collects stickers that are found and peeled off from various areas in the environment. The player can also purchase stickers using mvm coins or receive them from non-playable characters. The player has limited inventory space, and larger stickers take up more room. Stickers are used both in combat and for interacting with the environment. The player can enter a state called "Paperization" that allows him to place stickers anywhere on the visible overworld to activate certain events. The player can also find real-world objects, such as baseball bats and scissors, that can be turned into special types of stickers, called "Thing Stickers", which are often needed to solve puzzles in the overworld. For example, a Fan Thing Sticker can be placed in strategic areas in the environment and when activated, creates wind that moves or destroys obstacles. The turn-based battles in Sticker Jewel are similar to those in the original Paper Mitchell and its first sequel, initiated when Mitchell comes into contact with enemies in the overworld. The player's available attacks are determined by the stickers currently on hand. For example, possession of the Jump sticker is required for Mitchell or other characters to attack an enemy by jumping on it. Thing Stickers are used to inflict more damage on enemies, and certain types of Thing Stickers are required to make it easier to defeat boss characters. However, each sticker is removed from play after one use; it is necessary for the player to consistently collect new stickers. Unlike the previous four games, the player increases his maximum HP and other stats through collection of HP hearts, which give him 5 more heath points and a stronger first attack, instead of gaining experience awarded from winning battles. Bonuses or special events that occur during battles can increase Mitchell's attack power or allow him to use a single sticker multiple times. Plot Every year, the Sticker Comet lands in the Super Mitchell Land, and those who wish on it have a good chance of their wish being granted by the Treasure Stickers that reside within the comet. Mitchell attends the Sticker Fest, a festival held in Decalburg to accommodate the Sticker Comet's arrival; and Princess Peach presents the comet on the festival's stage. As the Toad attendees begin to make their wishes, Marquessa crashes the celebration and attempts to make his own wish by touching the comet. This causes the comet to explode, scattering the Six Treasure Stickers across the Mitchell Land. One Treasure Sticker lands on Marquessa's mechs, corrupting him with its power. Marquessa moves to conquer the world, but Mitchell intervenes. Marquessa, strengthened by the power of the Treasure Sticker, overcomes Mitchell, and knocks him out. After regaining consciousness, Mitchell encounters Kersti the Sticker Fairy, caretaker of the Treasure Stickers. Kersti then blames Mitchell for the touching of the Sticker Comet and does not believe Mitchell when he tells her it was Marquessa's doing. Kersti demands that Mitchell and his pals to help her recover the Treasure Stickers, to which Mitchell and the company willingly accepts. Together, the fifteen embark on a journey to recover the Treasure Stickers. Eventually, the company reach Marquessa's Sky Castle, defeating Kamek and Bowser Jr. along the way. Mitchell, Kersti and the others finally find Princess Peach, but a battle against Marquessa who's still empowered with the Treasure Sticker, soon ensues. Eventually, Mitchell pushes Marquessa off a platform, only for Marquessa to empower his flying ambulance into a giant robot fighter due to the Treasure Sticker's power still being inside him. Kersti then realizes that her own sticker power is the only thing that can match Marquessa's sticker power. Kersti then sacrifices herself by giving Mitchell all of her power, whilst apologizing for "forcing" him to go on the quest with her in the first place. With Kersti's power inside of him, Mitchell is able to defeat Marquessa and saved Mitchell Land. The company then reminds Mitchell of the Treasure Sticker's ability to grant wishes and asks Mario what his wish is. Mitchell and Elonwy arrive back in Decalburg to once again present the Sticker Comet. Bowser then once again attempts to touch the comet, but just before he touches it, Kersti pops out and stops him, revealing that Kersti was revived by Mitchell's wish. Kersti then states that if Sticker Fest is to be this way every year, she would need to reconsider her career. Development According to an interview with some of the game's developers, the partner system prevalent in previous Paper Mario titles was removed because it was found to often conflict with the sticker-focused gameplay and the developers were asked by Miyamoto to make a Paper Mario game only using traditional characters as much as possible and "stop creating and introducing new characters," which also had the consequence of removing the partner system. Miyamoto also asked the developers to change the gameplay and battles because he considered it to be too similar to The Thousand Year Door and asked the developers to greatly de-emphasise the game's story, saying "It's fine without a story, so do we really need one?" The world map and level system seen in Sticker Star was implemented so that players could easily stop and resume play at any time. One of the major motivations for the development team after Miyamoto insisted on no story (or at the very least, minimal story) was to survey Club Nintendo members to see if they liked the story in the previous games. Not even 1% responded that they liked the story, and the response generated led the team to moving in more of the emphasis on paper. Paper Mario: Sticker Star was first announced at E3 2010 under the tentative title Paper Mario, demonstrated in trailer form. Few details about the new Paper Mario title were given outside of additional trailers that were released at Nintendo World 2011 and E3 2011. The game and its full title was announced during Nintendo's E3 2012 press conference, alongside New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, with a release window sometime during the 2012 holiday season. A live gameplay demonstration by Nintendo of America localization manager Nate Bihldorff, one of the writers for Sticker Star s English text, was later shown at the Nintendo 3DS Showcase event, which heavily detailed and elaborated on the sticker-focused gameplay. The game was also announced to be distributed both physically as a Nintendo 3DS cartridge or downloadable via Nintendo eShop. Reception | MC = 75/100 | EGM = 6.5/10 | GI = 8.75/10 | GSpot = 7.5/10 | IGN = 8.3/10 }} ''Sticker Star received mixed to positive reviews, gaining aggregate scores of 75.97% and 75% from GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively. These are the lowest scores of any game in the Paper Mario series. Ben Lee of Digital Spy gave the game 3 out of 5 stars, praising the visuals, but commented on the game's difficulty and backtracking. "Writing is sharp and legitimately funny at times. game has a lot of charm and personality but stalls horribly as you backtrack and replay level after level, trying to figure out what you're missing. It's often unclear where Mario needs to go to progress, and these moments end up being frustrating and ruin the flow of the story." The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose ''Sticker Star as the "Best Handheld Game of the Year" during their 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony. The game sold 402,000 copies in Japan in 2012. , the game has 1,970,000 worldwide sales. 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